Saturday, January 3, 2009

Poe's Room at the University of Virginia

This is a wonderful photo of Poe's room by someone named JoshBerglund19 on Flickr. (I'm using it under a Creative Commons license, with some rights reserved.)

I went to the University of Virginia, and I am even a member of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, which Poe also joined while at school. The room is located on what is called the Range, which is the line of rooms facing away from the lawn in front of the Rotunda. The doorway is open, but sealed off with a thick sheet of glass. So at any time of day or night, you can walk by and peer into Poe's lair. I didn't fit in at UVa. Though I made a few friends there, I spent quite a few late-night hours wandering around by myself. I suspect Poe did the same, and it's probably one of the reasons I like him so much. Sometimes I'd walk by this place on my way home, and give the door a quick knock.

Sexual fantasies, desperation...

...cat-sitting... The Big Money is about these things. And also love, loneliness, the Spider Demon at the end of Doom, and working at a fashion magazine.It is true in the emotional, but not legally actionable sense.Buy it on Kindle......or Nook.